


Baby it’s the end of times (and I need you by my side)

by lizardex



Category: descendants - Fandom
Genre: Alcoholism, F/F, and guns, if there’s more trigger warnings I’ll add them as the chapters go, mal and uma are ex-girlfriends, mentions of abuse, mentions of past relantionships, mentions of the core four, this is a where there was fire ashes remain type of thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2020-09-07 09:48:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20307499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizardex/pseuds/lizardex
Summary: Who would’ve thought that for two soulmates to reunite again all that was needed was a zombie apocalypse?





	1. The beginning

**Author's Note:**

> The idea actually came from two different prompts, “A and B on the first day of the apocalypse (zombie or otherwise). Are they separate? Are they together when the attack rolls in? Where do they hide? How do they survive the first day and night?” and “It’s a zombie apocalypse and A hasn’t seen a real person since forever, and they kiss person B when they see that they are an actual living person.” 
> 
> I’ll try to follow them but also create something different, and hopefully enjoyable. I’m just doing it for fun and for myself, but if it entertains someone else then that’s even better. Feedback is very much appreciated:)

Mal heard for the first time about the zombie orde in the news. The blonde girl on the news who always says funny jokes so that the people who saw her at eight in the morning could laugh, had a scary face while reading the paper she had in her hands. More than 50 countries had been affected by a strange virus that caused people to become carnivorous. Apparently, this virus was spread only through the bite of an infected person to another who was not. The signs were there, but just because of the cliché nobody wanted to say it: they were in the presence of the beginning of a zombie apocalypse.

Mal was alone at home, her mother was out of the country; she was a very renowned doctor and this often led her to have unexpected trips at any time to give lectures on certain topics. That was great, but Mal never hated her mother's job as much as she did at that moment. How was she supposed to survive? It was more than clear that the airports would be closed, and the only way her mother could return was if she traveled by car, but that option could also be crossed out, since everyone would have the same idea and the highways would clearly collapse.

Her phone began to vibrate, and by the tone she knew that it was her friends talking in the group they had together. She could call them, but she would never ask them to give up everything and go with her exclusively. She knew that Evie was going to have to take care of Dizzy, her little adopted cousin, and Mal didn't want to expose them both to any danger. Jay and Carlos were also there, but then again, Mal knew they were both working as babysitters for Mr. Smee's twins, so they would also be busy.  
Mal's heart was shattered at this. They were family. Family was not supposed to broke apart, but the situation was bigger than them. None of the circumstances in which they found themselves allowed them to come together, so Mal had to reply with a brief message that she was okay, that they shouldn’t worry about her because she wasn’t alone. They were still worried, but they did not push it. 

A certain person crossed her head, but she immediately dismissed it. Mal hadn’t talked to that person for a few months now, and no zombie apocalypse or whatever was going to change that. Yes, her pride was important to her.

But Mal was running out of ideas.

A rumble in the street made her conscious again. She took the remote to take the sound off the TV without having to turn it off and slowly approached the window. Moving the curtain just enough that she could see what was happening, her breath was caught in her throat. Not only were there people running terrified, but there were several cars crashing into the lampposts, as if the driver had lost control of the wheel out of nowhere before they realized they had to step on the brake. The scene before her eyes was cold and scary, and as soon as she saw a person walking strangely with what looked like foam in their mouth, Mal jumped out of the window and placed the lock on the door.

It didn't matter if she was alone, Mal wasn't ready to be eaten by a damn zombie.

She ran to each of the windows on the ground floor and closed the blinds, while closing the doors of the small kitchen windows. She took the small container in the cupboard that had different knives of different sizes for cooking and poured them on the table. She was trying to pay attention but the sounds outside caused her anxiety to increase and unintentionally, while moving one of the knives, she cut herself on the wrist.

"Shit," she muttered to herself. This is the last thing she needed, wasting time and supplies like bandages and alcohol just because she can't control herself. 

She grabbed the edges of the table with her hands, closed her eyes and started counting to ten. None of this was going to work if she couldn't calm her nerves. The apocalypse had already begun, and she could do nothing but prepare and fight against whatever was coming. She had to come up with a plan and concentrate.

With renewed energies, Mal let out a last breath and opened her eyes and raised her head. Not today Satan, not today.

—————————————————————

A few blocks from Mal's house, a turquoise-haired girl was fighting with a man who wanted to steal her motorcycle. Uma was used to fighting, but it was very strange that a man in a suit with a nervous face was so stupid to try to steal her keys and take her bike. The man didn't look like your typical robber, more like a disoriented businessman. Still, Uma had no compassion and in two seconds she left the man with his face against the asphalt while twisting his arm. The man kept screaming.

“What's your problem friend? You have to stop screaming so I can call the police.” Uma twisted the man's arm more and he gasped. Uma took her phone from the pocket of her leather jacket and began dialing, when suddenly a call appeared on her screen.

"Harry?" It wasn’t normal for the boy to call her, they usually spoke by message since the other liked to annoy Uma by sending her emojis and if they called each other, he said once, the true meaning of the emoji of the crying face disappears. Something must be wrong, because Harry seriously hated calls.

“Have you heard the news? Where are you? I'm going to your house.” Harry's voice was elated and choked, as if he were running and he was short of breath. Uma looked to both sides of the street and saw no one.

“I’m in front of my house. An idiot wanted to steal my motorcycle and I have him pinned down on the floor. I was about to call the police. What happened that I have to watch the news?”

A few seconds passed until Harry finally answered. "Don't be scared, but it seems that the zombie apocalypse started." Uma couldn't help but laugh.

"Harry, we talked about getting high before twelve." Despite the joke and the fact that what Harry was saying was ridiculous, Uma's muscles couldn't help getting tense.

"I'm not kidding! Uma, a rare virus spread in a lab and infected several people. You know how a disease expands, the same thing happened here.” Uma's grip on the man began to relax. “I was going with Gil to your house like we said we would, when I got the notification of a website”

Uma's thoughts were at ten thousand kilometers per hour. What was this? A series of netflix? Uma couldn't believe they were going through a bad season of The Walking Dead.  
The man on the floor began to stir and Uma tensed her grip, while placing the tip of her boot on the businessman's back.

"The boy is telling the truth!" Apparently Harry's voice was loud enough for the man to know what they were talking about. Uma pressed her boot harder against the man's back to shut him up.

A name came to her mind among all the information she just received. "Oh god, Harry, we have to go find Celia, she’s at her school, I-" Harry interrupted her. “I know, Gil's on his way. He already went to pick her up, he'll meet us later.”

Uma let out a sigh that she didn't know she was holding. "And why didn't you go with him?" It was a stupid question, but she didn't know how else to react.

"And who would be with you?" Harry snorted, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Uma knew that the boy appreciated her very much and that he wanted to take care of her, only that she didn’t know how far he would go to do so. It seems that the day had finally come to find out.

“Harry, you’re an idiot. But I love you. Let me take care of this clown and I'll wait for you inside the house. We'll come up with something.”

"Okay, I'll be there in five" Uma could hear how Harry sped up his steps before hanging up. She returned her phone to her jacket and took the man by the shoulders to lift him off the floor.

"This is your lucky day," said Uma with a serious expression as she grabbed the collar of the man's shirt, pulling him closer to her. “If what my friend said is true, it won’t take long for a zombie to come and eat your brain. I hope that happens, because nobody touches what is mine. I don't think you know how lucky you are that I didn't cut off your fucking hands for trying to touch my motorcycle.” The man swallowed. “But you can have family, and I am not heartless. Get out of here and don't come back. If I see your face again, you are history.” Uma released his shirt too hard, causing the man to stumble and fall back to the floor, but he quickly got up and ran.

Uma still couldn't believe the news. Zombies? Really? There was nothing more obvious and at the same time more dangerous than a human with a parasite in his brain that made him want to eat other people’s brains. If this was a joke, Harry would pay the consequences. The only thing that had relaxed her was the fact that Gil went to look for Celia at her school and was bringing her home. Uma was going to feel much better knowing that Celia was in her visual field.

She took her bike, but since she didn’t feel like opening the garage, she simply entered it through the main door and set it in the living room. A ruined floor didn’t matter within the grand scheme of what was happening.  
Without paying attention, she closed the door and left the keys in the motorcycle's seat. She made her way to the couch and once she sat down, she opened google. There was not one, but thousands of news about what was happening. Some forums said that the plague had been controlled and that they fervently advised to stay inside of our homes until the government could control the situation. Others said the darkest stage of humanity was approaching, and that we needed to pray and repent of our sins. Uma quickly closed that tab. It was too late for that.

A knock on the door caused her to get up at lightning speed and look through the hole in the door. Harry's unruly hair was even more messy from running from wherever he was, and nervous eyes connected with hers. Seeing the fear in his eyes, any doubt that Uma could have felt, even after reading the news, evaporated into the air. She quickly opened the door and took Harry by the arm to make him enter the house. Once she was sure that the door was closed again, she hugged Harry tightly, and he returned the gesture.

Many things had happened to them, and both had helped each other when things in their homes were not right. Harry having problems with his drunk father and Uma with her violent mother.  
When Harry's father got drunk enough to blame him again and again for the death of his mother (who died giving birth), Uma was always with Harry to remind him that it wasn’t his fault. And when Ursula was irritated by the smallest thing and shed her fists in Uma, Harry always ended up climbing a tree to Uma's room to heal her wounds. It had been a few years since they had been able to leave those memories behind, but the connection they felt thanks to that surpassed anything else.

Gil was the last addition to their little gang. Although he didn't have problems as serious as their own, the truth was that his father Gaston did not care about what happened to Gil. He might not have suffered any abuse, but he also didn't have a present father figure, and both Harry and Uma could relate to that.

Therefore, having one of them there with her made Uma feel a little more safe.

"Jesus Christ Harry" Uma broke away from him to look him in the face. "I can't believe this is happening."

Harry gave her a look of understanding. “Neither can I, darling. We didn't know whether we should come or not until we both remembered Celia.”

Celia was the daughter of her mother's brother, who abandoned her to her fate when she was only one year old. She has been living with Uma and her mother since then; and even now, when Uma's mother was out of the picture, being admitted to a psychiatric hospital. As Uma was legal on the eyes of the law, she could become Celia's legal guardian. She treated the girl as if she were her own little sister, and as a consequence, her friends treated her the same way. It was good to know that as soon as Harry thought of Uma, he would have also thought of Celia.

"How long do you think it will take them to come?" The worried tone in her voice was noticeable. She knew that the school was not far away, but Uma didn’t know where Gil had been in the first place and how much it would take him to go for Celia and return to the house.

"It shouldn't take long now, we were at the gym practicing boxing." Now Harry's outfit made much more sense. Uma gave Harry a look. She thought that Harry's red cheeks must have been because of the run, but she hadn't realized the bandages Harry had on his hands, or the fact that he had shorts in the middle of winter.

And as if they had been summoned, desperate knocks made both of them jump into place, but Harry reacted faster. He looked through the eye in the door and opened it.

Small arms flew out hugging Uma by the waist, and Uma felt how the air returned to her body, although she knew that it was physically impossible for it to leave in the first place. She knelt before Celia and took her face in her hands.

"Hey, you are here, everything is fine." Small tears fell down the girl's cheeks, but Uma wiped them with her thumb. “You are already with me. Nothing is going to happen to you.” Celia let out a sob and hugged Uma back.

Uma looked up from the hug and saw Gil, to who she gave a smile and a nod, hoping he could convey Uma's gratitude to him for bringing her little girl home.

Gil nodded in response and gave her a small smile.

Celia separated from her.

She seemed to have calmed down because she no longer cried, but the sobs continued. “I thought I would never see you again.”

Uma tried to ignore the pain in her heart upon hearing that. "Not even a stupid zombie attack could make me leave you." Celia smiled through her tears and Uma couldn't help her smile from getting on her face. “We are together now, and nothing will separate us. We have Harry and Gil here too. We are fine. You don't have to worry.” Celia hugged her again.

"Gil, are you all right?" Uma asked, as she ran her hand over Celia's back trying to give her comfort.

Gil put his thumb up. “I’m okay. I only had to walk about 20 streets until I reached Celia's school and another 30 to get here. And I would do it again.” Harry put his arm around Gil's shoulder and pulled him to kiss him on his temple. Gil blushed but didn't go away from him. Uma really loved them with all her heart.

"But," Gil began, clearing his throat. "And now what?"

Uma got up from the floor, still having Celia grabbing her. She put an overprotective hand on her head and said, "And now, we fight back."


	2. The Agreement

Yes, it was true, Ursula might enjoy a little too much to use Uma as a punching bag, but at least her mother had some stored weapons. Uma never found it funny that a person as unbalanced as her mother could have possession of even a glass of water, much less a weapon, but for the first time in years she felt a little gratitude for the poor regulation of weapons in America. Only a little.

There were, conveniently, two rifles with several boxes of ammunition and a crossbow with some arrows already loaded. Then there were other smaller guns, but there were even fewer bullets for them. She would take them, but they would only be for an emergency. She was doubting though, she didn’t knew if she should give one to Celia or not. Uma understood the urgency of the situation, but she also understood that she should protect Celia, and that included protecting her from the trauma of having to shoot someone, zombie or not.

For now, she placed one of the guns on her waist, all the others in a duffel bag and closed the door of the basement where she was.

Harry and Gil were busy trying to distract Celia in her room so she wouldn't see what Uma was doing, but sooner or later the girl would see what Uma had grabbed, so it didn't matter.

Uma was climbing the stairs to show them what she found, but she couldn't help being distracted by the pictures that were hanging on the walls. 

There were two photos that particularly caught her attention. The first one was a photo that Gil had taken of her and Celia after having spent their first month under the same roof. Uma and Celia had gone out to celebrate buying some ice cream, but the weather was so hot that their cones were dripping, staining their hands, although the happiness did not move away from Celia's face, her smile said it all. Uma was never going to regret taking care of the girl, and was going to do everything possible to keep her safe. 

The second photo, however, left a bitter taste in her mouth. Not because of the bad memories (and there were), but for the good ones. Uma sometimes found herself, without realizing it, remembering those moments when she felt that life might be worth it if she had someone by her side who loved her with the same passion as she would love them. But the truth was, it wasn't like that. In the picture, Uma was on her back, with her hand on the waist of a purple-haired girl, who was also on her back and with her arm on Uma's waist. They both were looking forward, and whoever looked at that photo without context would think it was very romantic and that they possibly were watching the sunset or something cute, but in reality they were watching as Harry and Jay fought for the tenth time in the day while Carlos and Gil looked at them with exhausted faces, but Mal and Uma couldn't help but laugh at the situation. The photo was taken by Evie, and captured the wildness of the moment, giving it a natural touch.

Uma could never allow herself to throw it or break it. It is true that she and Mal had ended badly, but before being girlfriends, they had been friends, and that picture not only represented their friendship but also the complicity they felt with each other. But those times were long gone. 

Uma forced herself to set aside the memories, and continued on her way to Celia's room. The door was open, and showed a scene too tender for her eyes. Celia was in her bed, with all her arsenal of makeup scattered on the bed, while holding a palette in her hand and attacking Harry's eyes with a brush with the other. Gil was more interested in cheering her on and telling Harry that he looked great.

"Wow Harry, if I had known that you looked so hot with black eyeshadow, maybe I would have asked you out a while ago" Gil's eyes were fixed on the work of art Celia was doing on Harry's face.

"You offend me Gil, you don't think I'm attractive enough to invite me even if I don't have makeup on?" Harry tried to sound wounded, but Uma didn't miss the funny tone on his voice. They were doing a show for Celia, and it was working, because the girl kept giggling.

Gil pretended to think about it. “Yeah, that’s what I think. It makes your eyes stand out more, and they are the only beautiful thing about you.”

Harry moved away from Celia immediately. "I'll give you something beautiful" Harry started tickling Gil and hitting him without actually doing it, and from one second to the other, they were fighting playfully in bed. Celia had to take her things quickly so they wouldn't be crushed by the boys' bodies.

Uma would have loved to watch the fight unfold, but they had pending issues to address. "Alright, alright. Stop it before you break something" Automatically both stopped and looked at Uma, and little by little they started to untangle themselves from each other and to sit straight.

“I need to tell you something, uhm. In private.” She looked at Celia and at them again, hoping they would understand what she meant. They did. 

They went out with her to the hall, while Celia was picking up everything she had not been able to take out of bed in time and was now scattered all over the floor.

Uma handed Gil the bag and he opened it. "They are all that my lunatic mother had." Harry stroked the weapons, and let his hand rest an extra second in the crossbow. “There are not many bullets, but they are for an emergency anyway. Especially the small guns.” Uma picked up her shirt and let them see the gun at her waist.

"Do you think sound attracts zombies?" Gil asked without paying attention.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Attract them in what way?"

"You know. They are not supposed to be very fast, but they are super sensitive to sounds. If we fire a gun, other zombies will hear it, and they will go where the sound came from.” Uma was already having a headache.

“Whether we attract them or not, that is not our main concern. If we have to use these weapons to defend ourselves, we will.”

"Of course. I was just saying. It's better to be prepared than to be taken by surprise.”

"I know Gil, and thanks for that contribution."

“You're welcome.” Gil zipped the bag and let it hung on his shoulder.

“Maybe we can go find and steal like a target or something. There isn't much food here for all of us.”

That had not occurred to Uma. “We could do it, but we don't have a car. How will we bring the food? And how the four of us will go if my motorcycle can barely fit 3 people?”

"You're right. But we gotta do something, we will not survive for long without supplies.” Uma agreed with that.

“We can think of something. But let's go problem by problem.” Uma put her hand on Harry's arm to try to convey a little calm. “At this time, food is not urgent. I'm going to need you guys to— ” But Uma's words were swallowed by Celia's thunderous scream of horror.

Uma acted on instinct and pushed the boys to move into Celia's room again.

"What's wrong?" Celia was horrified looking at something from her window towards the front garden. Uma approached her and looked to the direction she was fixing her eyes, and what she saw paralyzed her.

Yes, she has been preparing all day in case the opportunity to kill a zombie came, but seeing them in action was something else entirely.

A group of about 6 zombies were surrounding a dog, circling it while it tried to escape but was unsuccessful. His frantic and frightened movements caused a wave of sadness to run through Uma's body, and apparently that image caused the same in Celia, as the girl ran out of the room.

"Celia!" Uma ran after Celia. Who knows what she might think to do. When the girl went straight to unlock the door, Uma knew they were fried.

"No, Celia don't do it!" Uma shouted, but it was too late. The girl went out to the garden and took a branch that was on the floor and began to hit the zombies. Attracted by the new distraction, they turned around and inspected her for a second, and in that second Celia realized that she made a mistake. The dog shot out, fleeing, because the attention of the zombies was not in him anymore, but in the girl.

Celia began to hit the closest zombie in their abdomen, but the blows did nothing to them. They didn't slow down and it didn't seem to hurt them either. Celia realized this and dropped the stick.

Uma didn't doubt it for a second, and went outside as well. She took the gun from her waist and without blinking, started shooting. Some shots went to their shoulders, others to their jaws. Uma could not blame herself, it had been a long time since she had fired a gun, but eventually she got to shoot everyone in the brain, the last zombie getting too close to her, so much that the barrel of the gun touched their forehead before Uma would shoot and it ended up on the ground, along with the other zombies.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Already with the situation being taken care of, the only thing that went through Uma's mind was the rage she felt against Celia. The image of the cornered dog hurt her as much as it hurt Celia, but if she was being honest, if she had to let a dog die for them to survive, she was going to do it. Celia didn't have that survival instinct and that was a problem.

Regret crossed all over Celia's face. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't leave him alone!"

"It's a dog, Celia!" Uma couldn't understand how it was that she hadn't yet understood the reality of what was happening. “Thousands of dogs died every day, and thousands of dogs will continue to die! The difference now is that trying to save them can cost you your own life!” Uma knew she was screaming, but she couldn’t find the force in herself to calm down.

Celia was trying to be strong, she had already cried before and she would not like to cry again in front of Uma, because somehow she felt that she was disappointing her, but her words hurt. She knew the consequences, and was willing to pay them, even if it was for a stray dog.

“Girls! We have a situation here.” Uma didn't know when Gil and Harry had left the house, but once she turned around to see them, she understood perfectly what Harry was referring to.

Apparently Gil's theory was correct, and the zombies were attracted to the sound. What a way to find out.

On both sides of the house, groups and groups of zombies were appearing, some were already entering the house, and others were still enchanted by the sound of Uma's gun, and were looking for the creator of that sound.

This was bad. This was very very bad.

The boys approached, and Gil put an arm around Celia to keep her close to him. They had to move, and returning to the house was not an option.

"This has to be a joke" Uma agreed with Gil, but she wasn't going to say it out loud.

But like so many other times, a certain person's name appeared in her head, and the fact that that person's house was not so far from hers. She could only pray that Mal was not gone.

"I have an idea" Uma looked at them. She wasn't sure they would like it, heck, she wasn't sure she liked it, but they literally had no choice. And the zombies could be slow, but they couldn't spend the whole afternoon talking in the middle of the garden while a zombie wave was heading towards them. They would have to discuss it later, for now they just had to trust Uma.

Uma started running towards Mal's house, and the others followed her.

———————————————————-

Mal changed her outfit since she was still in her pajamas, and changed her sleeping attire with a dragon print for some black tights, boots and a long shirt that could even work as a dress. She put her hair up in a bun and began to sort her things out. 

It had been several hours since her panic attack on the situation, and she was quite satisfied with what she had accomplished. She moved all the furniture and placed them vertically in front of the windows, put cardboard over the kitchen windows (leaving a small margin free for the air to pass) and collected anything that could serve as a weapon. She had her knives, a baseball bat, pepper gas and an old cane that her mother had for some reason.

It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

There was a time when Mal swore to hear loud and straight noises, noises that sounded like gun shots, but she wasn’t sure. She had already gotten used to the strong repercussions on the street, so she didn't give it much importance, but she also became alert.

She was about to check her wound to change the bandage when she heard a sound she did recognize. Someone was knocking at her door.

For a moment, all the calm she had been able to gather left her, and she felt like a two-year-old girl again, with no idea what to do. But as quickly as that feeling came, it left, and was replaced by the great need to stay alive. Whether it was a zombie or a person who wanted to harm her, Mal was going to do something. She took the biggest knife she had and went straight to the door.

What she found on the other side left her speechless.

Her fingers were shaking, and when she opened the door, she couldn't help covering her mouth to prevent any sound from escaping.

"Hello princess, did you miss me?" Said Uma, the girl whose heart she had broken.


	3. The Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.s. I have no idea if Yzma was the headmistress of Serpent Prep I just thought it would be cool to use her for that role

To say that Mal was surprised was an understatement. Mal would never have imagined that she would see Uma again, much less at a time like this.

And what was what led her to do what she did, Mal had no idea. Maybe it was the familiarity she felt from seeing a familiar face after suffering and getting used to the idea that she was going to be alone. At least that's what she said to herself, when she took Uma by her face and connected her lips to hers.

The kiss baffled Gil and Celia, who looked at each other immediately trying to find an answer, but Harry had a funny smirk on his face. He knew that the detour they had made ringed a bell in his mind, but he had no idea from where. The moment the door opened and Harry saw the purple-haired girl, he knew that, of course, Uma knew exactly where they were going and with whom, unlike what he had initially believed. Usually when they were still friends, they gathered everywhere except in each other's houses, since it was from their homes where they wanted to escape. But Uma had spent too much time in Mal's house to not remember the exact route she had to do to get to it. This could go very well or very badly, but in any of both ways, Harry was going to have fun.

Uma had to admit it, the kiss made her lose her balance for a few seconds. She knew that Mal wasn’t going to receive her with open arms, given the conditions in which their relationship was, but she had the vague hope that given the fact that it was possible for everyone to die from a zombie bite, she would minimally help them. But kiss her? Not in her craziest dreams.

Although Mal felt that the kiss lasted an eternity, it ended as soon as it began. Mal separated from her and took two steps back, trying to put distance between them. Her expression of surprise matched Uma's.

"Uh, I'm sorry for that, I-" Mal was trying to compose herself, but she was failing miserably. "I just didn't think I was going to see someone I knew again, my friends didn't-"

Uma couldn't bear to see the pathetic attempt to apologize in front of her. She was surprised but she was going to play it cool. “Mal, it's fine. I think there are more important things to worry about now. What if in exchange for that kiss you let us in? ”

As if Mal had just realized that Uma was accompanied, she looked at each of the pairs of eyes that were now looking at her and blushed.

"Yes, of course." Mal opened the door more so that everyone could enter.

One by one, they went past the threshold, until everyone was inside and the door was locked again.

The awkward silence that formed caused Mal's wound to itch, and she unconsciously scratched it. Uma's eyes followed her hand and she frowned at it, but said nothing.

"Well," Gil began. “It seems that everyone here knows each other. Or well, at least you and Uma.” Mal looked awkwardly at him. "But I'm Gil, I don't think we know each other."

Mal took the hand that Gil extended. "I'm Mal. I know Uma and Harry from ... school, you could say." Mal wasn't sure how anyone who seemed so close to them didn't know who she was. After all, they were friends for several years, and such friendships were not easy to forget. But time had passed, and she couldn't reproach them that either. However, the realization that Uma was no longer talking about her made her sad. Be it for whatever reason.

"Did you go to Serpent Prep?"

"Uh no. Dragon Hall. ”

Gil frowned at that. “And then how do you know them from there?"

“Uma and I used to .. make extreme jokes together. As we were from rival schools, nobody imagined that we would make plans together, and that made our jokes epic. No one could ever blame us for anything.” A smile formed on her lips as she remembered the good times. She and Uma had been inseparable back then, they were glued to each other's hips. The only time they separated was when they had to go to school, and when they had to go to the bathroom (and not even, because many times when Uma was taking a bath, Mal was putting her makeup on in the same bathroom while looking at herself in the mirror. Or when their relationship advanced, they bathed together).

Mr. Facilier could never understand how the school water was dyed a red dye while having an inspection by his supervisor. He knew about Mal's pranks, but he could never blame her since Mal's teacher was a witness that she never left the classroom when this happened. But Mr. Facilier was always certain that it was Mal who did it, even if he had no evidence against it.

Headmistress Yzma also did not know how, in the middle of lunch, the school's power went out. When they went to investigate what had happened, they found the light box wires all cut. As it happened in Mal’s school, the headmistress knew that this type of thing had the seal of Uma printed all over it, but she had seen the girl sitting and eating with her friends, so she could never point her out with her finger.

They helped each other with jokes and with each other. They were the dream team. Even while having their other friends, they didn't need anyone else. Until what happened, happened.

"But that happened a long time ago." Uma added. Mal gave her a look, but Uma didn't seem to want to give in.

"Thanks for letting us stay, Mal," Celia said, ignoring the tension that had been created between the two girls.

"Of course Celia, how could I leave you guys out?" Mal answered, a little relieved that she could focus on something else other than Uma for a second. 

“It was a big mess in Uma's house. We had to go outside because Celia started to fight with zombies. It was quite badass.”

Uma hit Gil in the arm. “It was pretty stupid. I didn't think we had to clarify that things like that can't be done, but apparently I have to mention it.”

"I already apologized" Uma was still angry. Not because of Celia herself, but because it could have been so easy ... so easy to lose Celia in the blink of an eye. Uma would never have forgiven herself.

"I know, I know." Uma raised her fist and Celia smiled, raising her own and making it collide with Uma's.

“And how did you manage it to stay alive, princess? I don't see your minions around here.” Harry began to inspect the room they were in, taking frames and putting them face down, while also throwing the flowers from the vases to the floor.

“It's because they are not my minions, Harry. They are not obliged to be with me all the time.” Mal could not help but get defensive. "Besides, they have their own problems to deal with."

"Are you so useless alone that not a day has passed and you're already hurt?" Harry pointed to the bandage on her wrist. Mal tried to hide it by crossing her arms in her chest.

“You should be kinder Harry. If it wasn't for me you would be zombie food.” Mal followed Harry's movements with her gaze.

She couldn't tell if Harry was having fun or getting angry. "Then I guess I should bow to you, right?"

"Do you really think this is the time to argue?" Uma interrupted them. "I don’t like this passive-aggressive talk." Uma looked at Harry. “Mal is right. You should be more grateful, if it weren't for her we would still be in the streets and who knows where we would spend the night.” And then Uma looked at Mal. “So thanks. You didn't have to open the door. I know you were never purely evil, but you didn't have to. So thanks."

Mal clenched her lips and gave Uma a little nod, accepting her thanks.

“But Harry did asked an intelligent question in all the shit he has said. How have you managed? We lost everything in a matter of hours.”

“Hey, have some faith in me. I'm not the type of girl who dies on the first day of an apocalypse.”

Uma couldn't argue that. "Of course not."

“I just.. tried to concentrate on something. I was looking for things to use as weapons if the situation arose that I should defend myself. That's how I did this to myself,” Mal raised her bandaged arm. "I was putting the knives together and I accidentally cut myself."

"That makes sense. You were never very graceful. ”

Mal squinted her eyes. "Ha ha, very funny."

“But what about your mom?” All kind of funny expression she had was replaced by seriousness. 

“She’s not here. She was doing some conference but I don’t know where she could be now.” For some reason Uma wanted to keep asking her about it, but Celia started talking first. 

"Um Mal?" Celia's voice caused Mal to stop looking at Uma. “I was wondering if it's not too much trouble, if you could show me a room where I can sleep? I know it’s still early but I’m still tired. And it doesn't even have to be a room! It can be a mattress, an armchair, whatever ”

“You will not sleep in a sofa Celia, not while you are at my house. You can take my mother's room. Harry and Gil can take the guest one.”

Hold up, was she implying that ...? "And what about me?" said Uma, pointing at herself. 

“You can sleep in my room. Sorry, there are not many options. My room is the one closest to my mother's, and I know you wouldn't like to leave Celia alone. Or we could take the mattress to that room if you prefer. I will sleep on one of the sofas upstairs. ”

"I will not let you sleep on a sofa in your own home."

"It’s fine. It's not like I'm not used anyway.”

Uma hated knowing what Mal meant. She knew that Mal used to fall asleep as a child in the living room chair while she waited for her mother to come home, only to wake up in the same position and an empty house.

“I will not hear any objection in this regard. If you want I can help you go find it and fix it for you.”

Uma wanted to continue rejecting the offer, but she knew that Mal was stubborn, which left her no choice but to accept. "Fine. Thanks again Mal.” Uma thanking Mal was becoming an habit, who would’ve thought. 

“You're welcome.” And if Mal smiled genuinely for the first time in a long time, she wasn't going to admit it.


	4. The Apology

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zombies are coming, don’t worry about that, but other things need to happen first. Enjoy x

The room of Mal’s mother was cozy, but it felt quite impersonal. There were no photos, no scented candles, no pictures. There were not even ornaments. The only thing that invited you to the room were the baby pink sheets that were there, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to realize that someone slept there.

Celia didn't seem to care though, she seemed to be more busy opening the drawers and stirring Maleficent's jewelry.

Uma sat on the bed. "I hope you're not keeping anything under your sleeves." Celia looked at her with complicity.

"Sometimes I hate that you know me so well."

"No, you don't." Uma extended an open hand towards Celia. "Come on, give it to me"

Celia booed resigned but gave Uma a necklace and a pair of earrings she had taken. Uma closed her hand and let it rest in her lap.

“You don't have to do this anymore. You know that, right?” Uma tried not to sound very serious, since every time they talked about it, Celia closed herself and stopped responding.

Her mother's brother, to pay for fucking drugs, had taught Celia how to steal. Stealing from the pockets of distracted people was her specialty, but Celia could do everything. Open locks, scam people, you name it. Celia was quite proud of her work and supposed talent, so it was also difficult to teach her that what she was doing was wrong. The girl grew up with that custom rooted in her, and it was hard for her to let it go.

As Uma expected, Celia did not answer. She took off her shoes, entered the bed and covered her head with the sheets. Seeing such attack was not uncommon, but that didn't make Uma less concerned. 

Uma exhaled and stretched out so she could remove the sheet from Celia's head. Her face was tense, and she was hugging herself.

"You know," Uma tried. "It was very brave what you did today with the dog."

Celia looked at her with confusion. "I thought you didn't like it."

"Oh no, I didn't like it, and if you do it again I'll make sure to cut all your hair" Celia chuckled, which made Uma chuckle too. “But, it was still brave. You just have to think better about these type of things next time. Okay?"

"Okay." Uma leaned and kissed her forehead.

“I will be downstairs for a while. Call me if you need anything, I'll come back later.” Uma wanted to give her time for herself so she didn't feel so overwhelmed by her presence, and so she could also process everything that had happened in the day. And maybe Uma was doing it to have that same option for herself.

Celia nodded, and before Uma could leave the room, she heard an "I love you, Uma."

Uma turned around. "And I love you."

When closing the door, Uma thanked herself for having been able to fix things, at least with Celia. 

——————————————————

Uma knew that Mal's mother had alcohol hidden somewhere, only she didn't remember where. With Harry and Gil already in the guest room sleeping in the middle of the afternoon, Uma calculated that she had at least until the next day in the morning for herself and to reevaluate everything that happened so far.

A zombie apocalypse. She lost her house. She almost lost Celia. And Mal kissed her.

Ah, Mal. 

How was it possible that even after all that, that Mal had kissed her worried or caused her something? Yes, they used to be girlfriends. Yes, maybe Uma felt more than she should have felt for her. But that was it. Right?

Ugh, Uma needed a drink of something strong urgently.

Speaking of the devil, she headed towards the kitchen but stopped when she saw a certain person sitting at the table. Uma could swear she heard little sobs.

"Mal?"

Mal jumped up from her chair and wiped away her tears quickly.

"Yes? Did something happen with Celia?”

Uma began to approach her at a slow pace. "Uh no, she's already gone to bed."

"Oh great" Mal's weak smile did not convince Uma who looked at her with.. concern?

"Are you okay?"

“Yeah, I'm fine. Why are you asking?”

“You were crying. I just saw you wiping your tears.”

Mal's smile fell and she collapsed back in her chair when she realized she hadn't tricked her.

"Sorry. Nothing happened. I think I just got a little overwhelmed. But that's it.”

And it was so stupid because, overwhelmed? She had that problem earlier, she didn’t want to deal with it again. And much less in front of Uma. 

“Mal,” Uma sat in the chair next to Mal's. “You don't have to lie to me. Although you don't have to tell me the truth either. But do not lie to me. I can see right through you.”

Mal was silent, as if she was analyzing the possibility of this new offer of sincerity that Uma was giving her.

"I wasn't lying when I said I was overwhelmed, but" Mal had to contain a sob. “It's just that I'm afraid that I might not see my mother again. Or my friends, that's all.” Uma tilted her head.

“Just say we weren’t the faces you were expecting to see and we’ll go.” Uma said it jokingly to ease her mood, but even with the kiss, Uma knew that Mal wished it wasn’t them who appeared knocking on her door. 

“You know it’s not that. I am glad that you guys are okay. And I don’t mind having you here. The more the better. But..” Mal started shaking her head. “Forget it. I don’t even know why I’m feeling like this again.”

It was so weird to see this side of Mal, Uma was used to seeing mostly her frivolous, calculating and manipulative side. After all, that was one of the things that had attracted her. She never saw her so out of her axis, and vulnerable. She almost didn't know what to do.

“Nothing is definitive Mal.” An urgent need to comfort her seized Uma. "I mean, I never thought I'd see you again and look where we are now." Mal cracked a smile at that. 

"Yeah, you're probably right." Uma felt satisfied with herself for helping Mal to calm down. She considered her for a moment before saying, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Uma didn't know where that question came from. "What do you mean?" Mal rolled her eyes.

"Come on, are you going to make me say it?"

Uma kept glancing at her without understanding what she meant. Mal moaned. 

"Why would you be nice to me after I cheated on you with Evie? We practically stopped talking altogether because of that. I don’t know why would you want to start acting nice now." She said it so simply because of the moment but Uma's stomach turned upside down. Perhaps Mal also realized that she said it very sharply because she shifted restlessly in her chair and found everything outside Uma's direction interesting enough to examine.

If an apocalypse can't make you forget your disastrous love life, then she didn't know what could.

She got so into the moment that she forgot what had really led them to break up.

It's not like Uma still cares, but it wasn't a cute memory she liked to remember.

She never liked to be controlling, so she let Mal alone to do whatever she wanted. She never checked her phone, she never followed her when she said she was going to a certain place to check that she was telling the truth or anything like that. If she had, she could have realized the truth, but being controlling and creepy and toxic was not her style. She trusted her girlfriend, and she had given her no reason to distrust her so far.

She never knew what she did wrong, since it wasn’t that they were having problems in their relationship. Mal and Evie simply... happened.

Uma one day just went to Mal's house and found them kissing in the front of Evie's car that was parked in front of Mal's house. At that moment, when Mal got out of Evie's car and she drove away, Uma felt that part of her heart had also been left in that car. Just to never see it again.

Mal tried to explain it to her, when she saw her in the street in front of her house, with a bag full of candies that she planned to eat with Mal while watching a movie until they got bored and started doing other things.

Clearly, Uma didn't want to hear her. And from that moment, Mal had disappeared from her life. She didn't let her approach or communicate with her, by phone, or by mail, or by any other means. She simply acted as if she hadn't existed.

Harry tried several times to speak with Uma, since he knew that his friend was suffering, but he knew that the damage that Mal had caused was too big, leaving a deep and poisonous scar on Uma, showing her that she could only trust very few people, and that others very few would never take advantage of her and take her as an idiot.

The fact that Uma had let Mal get so close to her, exposing her to things that not even Harry was invited to know, only infuriated him more, for he knew that this meant that all the progress he had made so that Uma could feel comfortable with someone else would go to the drain. And there wasn't a moment where he didn't curse Mal for doing that to Uma.

Not caring if Mal saw her or not this time, Uma got up and started to open the kitchen drawers in search of a bottle.

"What are you doing?" Mal's voice was heard insecure, as if she didn't want to bother her but curiosity had won.

"If we're going to have this conversation, due to the fact that we don’t have a choice," Uma smirked at the wine bottle at the top of one of the shelves. "We're going to have to drink."

Mal said nothing, but got up and took out some glasses and placed them on the counter. Uma took the invitation and uncorked the bottle, and started to fill the glasses for both. She handed Mal hers, and when their fingers touched in that exchange, it was as if little invisible sparks had given her current, an energy that moved throughout her entire body.

And that exactly summed up their entire relationship. They shared a spark that being treated with care could create an incredible pleasure, but if it was neglected and not treated with the attention it deserved, using glasses and protective gloves, it could give you a discharge that would leave you breathless. Dangerous, yet you couldn’t get but get closer and think that even if you got burned, at least you were electrified. 

“I think the right way to start this is by saying that I never wanted that to happen. It simply... flowed. It felt right at the moment,” Uma ignored the prick in her heart. “But after a few seconds I realized that Evie wasn’t the person I should be kissing. And that I had screwed everything up.” Mal was holding the full glass of wine as if it were a scepter and not as if it were a glass, because she didn't seem to have any intention of drinking, but only of holding it until her fingers turned white. Which was what was happening.

Uma gulped hers. “To be honest with you, I think you're saying that just because I saw you. If I hadn't, I don't know if you would’ve told me.”

Mal seemed offended. "Of course I would’ve, it wasn’t my idea."

"But you went with it" Uma counterattacked.

"It wasn’t my intention."

“Sure, it just ‘flowed’, right?” Defeat was starting to fill up Mal’s face.

“You have to understand Uma. I was a complete disaster back then, and you more than anyone should know it. I was going through a lot of things, and I had a very heated argument with my mother that same day. You were too busy with Harry to come to visit me and Evie offered to make me some company.”

It’s true that her fights with Maleficent were never pleasing, and those exact problems with her mother were what connected Mal to Harry and Uma in the first place. All of them had troubles at home, but they always tried to fix them together. 

Uma raised an eyebrow. "Then it was for revenge?"

"No! God, no. But the situation helped for the kiss to happen.”

Uma drank what was left in the cup and set it aside. “I was with Harry and couldn't go with you because that day his father had beaten him up. Worse than usual. I had to give him stitches. He had a concussion. I was afraid of letting him sleep alone just in case he didn't wake up.” Mal’s facial expression was wretched. 

"Oh god. I had no idea."

“Of course not, you never asked. You simply decided that I preferred him over you. Which is something very twisted. I could never have chosen between you two. I loved you both equally.” Mal's hand moved to her throat and she started to fiddle with her necklace.

"I don't ask of you to see my actions as something good Uma, because they’re not. I just want you to understand the context in which these actions happened." Uma supported her hip on the counter.

"I do understand that. But it was still unfair Mal. You were asking so much from me, but the first time I didn't pay attention to you, you go and kiss Evie?” Mal’s gaze was fixed on Uma intensely.

Uma clicked her tongue. "Even if the kiss wasn’t intentional, I could have given you the whole world and it still wouldn’t have been enough."

Mal finally relaxed her grip on the cup and drank its content in one swallow. "You're right." She said, and put the cup next to Uma's. “Nothing seemed enough. I was trying to fill a void that I didn't know I had with affection. Your affection, Evie's affection. Fuck, even Ben's affection.”

She felt confused for a second before remembering that Mal had briefly dated a boy named Ben Florian, but they hadn't lasted long because that white boy clearly didn't know how to handle someone like Mal.

Although she couldn't say much herself, because she hadn't known how to handle Mal either.

Still, the sudden sincerity of the green eyed girl might have aroused some sympathy in Uma.

She was never the perfect girlfriend. They had fights and arguments, they were flawed and broken. But they found each other on those aspects, and Uma genuinely thought that she could help Mal, just as much as Mal was helping her. But some people can’t be fixed with love from another person. That might work on the movies, but sometimes all they need is time to understand themselves and what they actually need and deserve. 

"At least you recognize it was something very fucked up, what you did."

"I'm truly sorry. I never had a chance to explain or to even talk to you because, well, you blocked me everywhere. And I needed to get my shit together. Reaching out to you before that would’ve been selfish.” A red tint landed on Mal's cheeks.

"I was so furious Mal." Uma closed her eyes. “So furious. Not with you, but with me. For letting you do that to me.”

Mal reached out to take Uma's hand and squeeze it. “I know it was the worst thing I could have done. I know. Not a day goes by where I don’t regret it. What we had was very good Uma, maybe that's why I had to destroy it. What I felt with you is something I haven’t felt with anyone else, and I’m sure I never will. The thing is, I just can never afford myself to be happy.”

Now Uma was squeezing Mal's hand.

“I’m grateful for your sincerity. I truly am. It wouldn’t have made a difference back then, but perhaps it can help us now. It’s going to take me a long time to forgive you completely, but there’s no use in having a grudge, at least not now. After all, what happened made me stronger.” Uma straightened as she said it, feeling proud that what she was saying was true.

Mal's eyes lit up. “It’s impossible not to notice. From the first moment I saw you at my door, I saw it. You are no longer the same girl who wore braids and told everyone to call her captain. Now you have become a woman who does not need to reaffirm her position. It's kinda hot” Mal joked.

Uma involuntarily let out a bark. "Are you really flirting with me when we just talked about how you cheated on me?"

She made an innocent face. “That’s water under the bridge” A promise and hope was hidden under that banter. 

"Totes!" She followed the game, in a pitcher voice. The truth was, it was going to take Uma a long time to trust Mal again, but if they were going to have to work together, she had no choice. Besides, neither she nor Mal were the same people as a few years ago, and maybe the distancing had been good for them. Only time could tell.

Before she would forget, Uma reached to one of her pockets and left the jewels on the table. “Oh and, if I were you, I wouldn’t let your mother's diamonds just laying around. You know how Celia is.” Mal grabbed them a little startled. 

“Is she still..?”

“Yeah. Bad habits are hard to get rid off.” Uma poured herself another glass of wine, and without thinking, she was pouring Mal one too. They locked eyes. “Or at least that what I’ve heard.”


	5. The Misunderstanding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in a week? Who am I lmao. I wanted to upload this chapter as soon as possible to let you guys know that I ended up creating a curious cat so you guys would be able to send me ideas, like prompts or just something you think that would go well/you would like to see in this particular fic. (ps: don’t send hate, if it’s not constructive, it’s not worth it c: ) https://curiouscat.me/UmalsThunder

As if it had been taken out of a movie, the chipping of the birds was what woke Uma up. The day was warm, the sun's rays filtered from the windows to rest throughout the room, giving it a very welcoming vibe. Uma never felt so eager to not get up in her life.

She began to look around the room, and when she moved and felt a body beside her, all her muscles contracted. 

It took her a moment to realize that, this was not like before, when her life was chaotic and she didn’t know what was happening half the time, but that it was a pleasant surprise, if she could admit it.

Mal was lying down covered only with a thin sheet, which if it weren't for the weather, would not have helped her to warm up at all. Her bun fell apart to transform itself into a ponytail, which she knew would bother her because that would leave marks on her hair. Her face, usually always plastered with some expression, showing her feelings without being able to hide them, was relaxed in a very angelic and unusual way in Mal. Her purple hair seemed to have acquired small particles of glitter, making it double shine in the warm light of the sun.

Moments like this were the ones Uma was referring to when she said that what they both had could easily take her breath away. Mal's peachy and plumped lips, the little scar in her eyebrow that she had acquired as a result of one of her many pranks from when she was a child. Everything about her was mesmerizing. Uma couldn't contain herself anymore and began to run Mal's face with her fingers in the gentlest way possible to not disturb her sleep.

How is it that someone so bewitching and delightful as her could also be such a wicked and rotten being at the same time was beyond Uma’s comprehension. But at that precise moment, she couldn't care less.

She started scanning the room again, this time paying real attention to the details, and realized they were in Mal's room. The glasses and the bottle of wine (now empty) were on the floor, where they could easily hit them if they got out of the bed without paying attention. So much purple in the room hurt her eyes so early in the morning, but she was not surprised that Mal's room had not changed at all, because she knew that when she got engaged with a color scheme, that was the end for the other colors.

Uma didn’t have time to even think when the door was opened and a parade of people began to enter the room and gather around the bed, their words heard loudly. Uma impulsively started looking for a knife under Mal's pillow to stab whoever was ambushing them. This movement (and the same sounds that startled Uma) caused Mal to wake up and enter into a defense mode, taking the first person she had close to her and holding them in a chokehold.

"Mal! Stop!” Uma's voice echoed in her senses and Mal immediately relaxed her grip on Gil. The boy doesn't have much experience in the art of hand-to-hand fighting, but he can defend himself decently in a fight. When he knows there is going to be one, and he is not taken for granted.

“Gil, oh my god. I didn’t want to do that” Mal began to apologize as Gil coughed and recovered from the attack.

"What the fuck were y’all thinking coming into the room like that?" Uma didn't know why she was so upset, but she had a vague idea that she wasn't going to develop.

Harry's smile began to fade. "We didn't think you were going to react like this."

"Yeah well, think again next time" As the adrenaline left her body, Uma couldn't help noticing the strangeness of the three people in front of her.

Gil was dressed in a black dress with golden ornaments and gloves, Harry was wearing leather tights that had studs on his knees and a black shirt, which was unbuttoned on the top, and consequently it exposed his incredible chest and some of his tattoos. Celia was in a corner looking at them, but she had a note pad in her hand, and an excessive amount of pearl necklaces hung from her neck. Uma could only assume that everything belonged to Maleficent.

“What is going on?” Mal’s voice sounded intrigued.

"Isn't it obvious?" Celia replied as if nothing had happened. "We are doing a fashion show" And she showed her the note pad, where she had written the names of Gil and Harry and their scores. “They have to create the most amazing look they can and I give them points. Whoever has the most points wins.”

Celia took the fedora that Harry had in his hands and placed it on Uma's head.

"Really?" Giggled Uma as she took off the hat immediately, starting to match Celia's mood.

"I'm winning!" Announced Gil, while ironing the edges of the dress with his hands.

Harry wheezed. “You wish. There is nothing that can win over this.” And he did a spin, giving everyone in the room a great view of his beauty. The air maybe was tense, but he wasn't going to miss the opportunity to show himself off.

Uma didn’t like being angry at Harry, so she tried again with him. “I don’t know Harry, Gil’s gloves are really doing it for me.”

Happy to have a bait to bite on, Harry sang "Captain, you're breaking my heart" While holding a hand to his heart and pouting.

"Shut up" Uma responded to him while throwing him the hat, and Harry grabbed it in the middle of the air while laughing.

“You guys can play too, we can go find more clothes.” Remarked Celia.

And at that Harry’s expression became serious.

"And destroy my mother's clothes?" Gil began to take off the gloves, as if he could already sense that Mal was going to tell them to start packing everything up. But Harry stood firm in his position, and even looked at her with a glimpse of dare in his eyes. All Mal had to do was talk for him to attack.

Mal grinned. “Usually I would love to, but I don't feel like arranging the clothes. You guys took them, and you will put them back where they belong.”

Mal was taking the fact that they were stretching her mother's clothes very lightly for someone who was crying about her just the night before, which made Uma wonder why she was in such a good mood.

"Unfortunately, there was no room for someone else even if you wanted to." Harry sneered. "But you could wash them." A reptilian gesture curved on his lips, and Uma was praying to any god who could hear her to not let this get out of hand.

Mal was not going to be intimidated anyway. "Are you afraid to give me that shirt and see that I look better than you?"

"As if that were possible."

She pretended to be concerned. "You seem very denied to the idea, if I didn't know you better I would say that you really think it's possible that I’m better than you in something."

Transparent smoke was coming out of Harry's ears, Uma could tell. He was no longer having fun and there was only a short time before the undisputed madness he possessed began to rise to the surface.

"Listen-" Harry said, but Uma didn't let him finish.

"Well! Mal and I will go to make breakfast. You guys finish this if you want but please when you’re finished, reorder everything. After all, this is not our house, and we can't just take things.” Celia nodded fervently.

Mal took Uma's hand as they slid out of the bed. If looks could kill, Mal would now be six feet underground. Uma knew that Harry had a thousand questions, but she wasn't sure she had an answer for any of them. So she sneaked away from her grip and moved her hand to Mal's shoulder, gently pushing her to start walking outside the room.

Someone needed to bring the zombies please, it was easier to deal with them than with all of that teenage angst.

———————————————

Once they were far enough away from the room so the others couldn’t hear them, Uma stopped Mal by the arm. "You can't do that."

"Do what?"

She didn’t have time for this. "Why did you hold my hand?"

"Because I wanted to?" Mal's confusion about the question really made Uma feel as if she didn't know how wrong was what she was doing. 

She pressed her lips. "Those aren’t things you should want, and they aren’t things I can allow."

“Okay, hold up. What bug bit you?” Now Mal was starting to sound perplexed. “We slept in the same bed not less than one hour ago and now you don't want me to take your hand?”

"It’s different. We got drunk and acted carelessly and we ended up falling asleep in the same bed, big deal.”

“You said you were going to try to forgive me.” Mal hissed with disbelief.

“Forgiving and trying to be cordial with you is one thing, and giving us another chance as what you want us to be is another. Mal, you hurt me a lot. You can't really expect that after one conversation everything will be forgotten. I’m not available for that.”

"But you.."

"But I nothing." She wanted to make things clear, because even if she didn't understand what she felt, she knew she wasn't ready for what Mal was handing out to her. “We can try to get along, I can try to ignore our past and talk to you as if it didn't hurt to know everything you did to me. I can try. But don't ask for anything else, we are already on the tightrope even with this.”

"Fine. Whatever.” At last, Mal grunted.

Uma couldn’t believe her eyes. “You’re really showing your mature side here.” It wasn’t wise to start fighting again, but it was impossible for her to let it slide. 

"I just don't get it Uma." Mal snapped, throwing her hands in the air. “What else do you want me to do? I said I was sorry, and that I know I fucked up. What else should I do?”

"Don't you get it?" Uma barked back. “I am not supposed to tell you what you have to do. It must be something that comes naturally to you. You say you have changed but you are still as clueless and immature as ever. ”

"It’s not immature to want you to try a little harder."

"Be thankful that I'm trying at all!" Mal remained silent at this. Uma sighed and put her hands on her hips. "You ask for a lot of things from the other and you give so little. Give me space to understand things, don't harass me, because the only thing you will achieve is that I don’t want to talk to you again. You said you were sorry, now show it and really mean it.” Uma crashed her shoulder into Mal's as she walked on, leaving her behind wide-opened .

————————————————

"So you talked to the little pixie."

After the discussion they had, Mal locked herself in her mother's room to organize all the clothes they used, even when she said she wasn't going to do it. She stayed with Celia, but kicked Gil and Harry out, and now they three of them were sitting in the living room weighing their next move.

Uma grunted. "Harry. This is not the time.” He looked at her unamused.

"Do you think you'll ever have time to talk to your best mate?" He liked to poke people, but he didn't do it with Uma for obvious reasons. The fact that she was now his target meant that he was feeling things he couldn’t express, so he had to be cruel. Uma understood it, but she also wanted to punch him.

"Hey, we should keep talking about how we only have food rations for a week." Gil quaked. Uma took her head in her hands and let it rest there for a few seconds.

“Sure thing love. I was just trying to start a new conversation. What do you suggest, then? Because I haven't been listening solutions so far. Just worries.” Harry put his feet on the table in front of him.

“Well, we could do what you said before. There must be some market near here, we can go steal something.”

"Good to know that for once I'm heard by someone."

"Although it wouldn't be stealing because nobody is there now." Gil pondered to himself, oblivious to what Harry said.

“If we are really going to do that, we must plan every step and not get distracted. We going out, taking what is necessary and coming straight back. We can't take any risks.” Uma had enough with what had happened before at her house, she couldn't risk that something would happen to any of them.

“Don't tell us that, you know we will follow you anywhere. But pass the memo to your new girlfriend who seems to be marching to the sound of her own drum, and you are right behind her.”

Uma punched the table. “That’s it, Harry.” The last thing she needed was him turning against her too. “Now listen to me, you are not going to question my way of handling the situation. Mal will do whatever she wants because she is her own individual, while we will deal with this in the way we know. So keep your comments to yourself, if they aren't going to be productive.” She felt a weight off her shoulders. “If you have something you want to discuss with me, we'll talk later. Now we have a mission, the rest can wait.”  
Gil put his hand on Harry's shoulder to show him support, something that Harry appreciated, and hoped that stroking his hand with his jaw was enough for Gil. It was, because Gil started to caress his face with his thumb in response.

Harry looked at Uma from head to toe, as if he was checking that the Uma he was talking to now was the Uma he was used to. In the end, he looked satisfied because he said, "Ay, captain. What should we do?" Uma smiled.


	6. The Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys! Remember that you can send me whatever you want @ my https://curiouscat.me/UmalsThunder :)

"Everyone understood the plan?" Uma finally looked up.  
Harry took the crossbow from the table and put it on his shoulder. "I’m ready. What about you princess? Are you afraid of breaking a nail?”

"Don't worry about me Hook," Mal took one of the guns and checked the barrel before closing it with a clack, putting the safety lock on it, then putting it on her waist. "We're on the same page today" Harry smirked.

They were checking everything to be sure that they could defend themselves, but in reality their best option were the knives, although they couldn't exactly keep a knife around their waist without a holster, which was one of the many things they had to search.

"Okay, then there is nothing more to say." Uma took one of the backpacks that Mal had brought and passed it on. “Save all the knives, but wrap them in a shirt before. We don't want someone using the backback and accidentally stabbing themselves.”

"You got it" While she was putting the last cookie of the quick breakfast they had between her teeth, she took the backpack from Uma's hands and went to her room to look for what she thought were the shirts.

Since their "fight" Mal had tried to be friendlier and calmer than before, doing everything Uma asked without squealing or protesting, even trying to joke with Harry (something he didn’t expect), though depending on his mood, sometimes Harry followed the game and other times, he responded in a bad way, all whilst she never answered him harshly for that. Uma appreciated the effort, but also felt that it was very forced, which irritated her a little.

Harry watched her leave the room and then turned to look at Uma, his mouth already open to say who knows what.

"Harry," Uma started. “Go find Gil. He might not come with us but I need to go over a couple of things with him now that he stays here.” He started to leave when Uma called him back. "Hey, leave the crossbow here, or are you going to walk around the house with that thing hanging on your shoulder?" He scowled but left it on the table. It was going to be difficult to detach him from that thing. It reminded Uma of when he had become obsessed with taking a hook to all the places they went to as a child, because it was one of the few gifts his father had given him. When it broke, he spent a whole week crying and without going to class, Uma had to drag him from his feet to the classroom. That hook was one of the few signs of affection Harry had received from his father, and that it was broken broke his world, but Uma convinced him that it wasn’t the hook, but what mattered was the intention of giving it to him, and that that would never break, which made Harry feel better.

"Captain, what's the problem?" Gil said entering the kitchen, taking a branch of grapes and eating them.

"Y’all have to stop with that nickname" Uma took the grapes from Gil's hand and put them back in the bowl. “We already counted them, and I know we are going out to find more food, but that doesn’t mean that we can afford to eat whatever we want whenever we want it. Ten grapes in the morning, that's the deal.”

Gil finished swallowing and said, "Roger that"

"Now, we know that zombies are sensitive to sound, you have an advantage in being in a house because the place is huge, but who knows if you will see someone." Uma slipped one of the guns and put it in front of him. “You will have to use that if you have no other option. We'll leave you the baseball bat and the pepper gas, and knives clearly. But it never hurts to have one of these on hand.” He rubbed his forearm.

“You know what I feel about it, I don't feel comfortable with guns. What if I miss? What if... I hurt Celia?” Gil's eyes were open and full of terror.

“And what if you don’t? Gil, I don't want to pressure you, but that gun can mean the difference between life and death. I just,” Gil's fears were valid, but he still couldn't let them dominate him. She brushed a strain of hair behind her ear. “Ask you to try it, to have it with you, use it only in an extreme case. You and Celia will be alone, and even if I trust you, I care too much about you guys to not give it to you as an option”

"I get it. Okay, yes, that's fine.” He took the gun from the table with the same care as if he were grabbing a bomb that is about to explode. "Do you think we should thank our parents for teaching us how to use one of these?"

Uma chuckled. "Sure, we will make them an altar that’s for sure"

"All ready! The knives are already stored.” Mal boomed while she invaded Gil’s personal space, putting a hand on his shoulder, letting it hang there. "I left some in my room above the closet so Celia doesn't grab them and hurt herself."

"Thank you. Mal. And good luck to both of you. We’ll be waiting for you.” Both of the girls assented at him, and then he went after Harry to wish him luck too.

"Oh and before I forget it," Mal took off her backpack and opened it, pulling out what looked like clothes. “I took this from my closet so you can wear it. I know the boys took things that Jay and Carlos left here, but you are still in the same clothes, and it must be uncomfortable to walk with a leather jacket all the time.” Mal reached out her hand with the clothes for her to take.

"It's not uncomfortable, I can be with this jacket perfectly," Uma told her, maybe a little too defensively and very fast, but she couldn't help it, seeing Mal all the time with a smile and a good attitude made her hair stand on end. But Mal's smile declined at what Uma said, taken back because of the speed with which she rejected her and retracted her hand with the clothes to herself.

"But," Uma hated the beaten dog expression that Mal had on her face, but she hated that it had an effect on her, and she hated even more what she was about to do. “I can accept the change of shirt and pants. These jeans already feel like a second skin and that’s never a good sign.” She took the clothes from Mal's hands and headed to the bathroom to change, without being encouraged to see Mal's reaction, because she knows that it would continue to stir things inside her. Mal was being kind, she was really trying, and that is exactly what Uma had asked her to do. So why did it irritate her so much? Why was it even harder for her to accept her help or even talk to her? Uma had no problem responding to her when she was sassy and believed herself to be the queen of the universe.

And maybe that was the problem. That Mal being obedient and submissive was not the real Mal, and it actually was someone who really disturbed Uma. Mal wasn’t made to bow her head. She was strong as a dragon, with the personality of a damn queen, selfish but knowing her courage. The Mal that made herself small infuriated her because she should not bow her head to anyone, specially not to her. Uma asked her to show that she changed, but she knew that this good girl facade she was showing was not her.

She looked up and looked in the mirror once she finished taking off her clothes and putting on the new ones. "You have to be kidding me" Uma should have recognized the shirt when she saw it in Mal's hands, but there were many purple shirts in her closet, she would never have imagined that it was _that one_, and she doesn't think that Mal noticed either. The shirt had plastered two dragons, one black and one green, that came together clashing their noses, causing them to form a heart together. That was a symbol that both had created before when they were friends for Mal to use.

They had a time where they wanted to have symbols that represented them, mostly Mal so that she could use it to tag her graffiti, so one day she and Uma created the dragons. Uma didn’t do graffitis, but Mal felt that she also needed one, making an intricate design of a skull with a bandana and a patch, with tentacles in the background that held a sword and a trident that crossed each other, in honor of Uma loving the sea and everything related to it. They spent a lot of money printing those designs on several shirts and jackets to use them (and exchange them with each other). Uma didn't know that Mal still kept them.

Memory lane wasn’t fun anymore (was it ever?), and Uma, for the first time in years, observed the small tattoo on the bone of her hip. The little dragon perched there, inert and without a single scratch, immaculate from the pain that her mind had to endure thanks to the person who gave her the idea of getting matching tattoos together. Simple and with only one color, without any detail, it seemed that he was making fun of her and her feelings. And knowing that Mal had an anchor tattooed on the same part of her body didn't make her feel better.

Lowering the shirt to cover the tattoo, Uma opened the faucet and threw water on her face. She was going crazy analyzing everything. She wiped her face and opened the door.

Mal was waiting for her it seems, because she was looking at the bathroom door while she drank a glass of water, which she spit when she saw her.

"Oh my god" She cleaned the water from her chin and left the glass. "I can't believe I gave you that shirt, I'm so sorry, let me go find you something else-"

"Mal, it's fine." It wasn't fine, but it didn't make sense to tell her so she can keep apologizing. "It's just a shirt"

Mal looked like she wanted to say something, but she thought about it better and kept quiet.

"If you say so. Um, the others are in the garage fixing something on my mother's other car engine. Apparently that's why she didn’t took it. Well, that and because it’s not the BMW”

"Then let's move" Mal readjusted the backpack on her shoulder and Uma put on her leather jacket again.

Upon entering the garage the boys were already lowering the hood of the car, while cleaning the dirt they had on their faces.

"Everything is in order, this baby can roar again"

Mal jerked her hand in the direction of the car. “I can't believe y’all made that work in ten minutes. I'm beginning to believe that the only reason not to send it to fix wasn’t because it was ruined but because my mother didn't want me to use it.”

“It would not be the first time someone lies to your face princess, remember when you went blonde? They lied to you shamelessly when they told you that you looked great.”

Usually such comments would have caused Mal to react and start arguing with Harry all day, but this time she just chortled. Harry didn't seem very pleased that he hadn't generated a reaction in her.

"Promise me it won't take long," Celia said, moving to Uma's side and locking their arms together and resting her head on her. Uma put her hand on her cheek.

"Of course not. We’ll try to do it as quickly as possible. You listen to Gil, and we’ll be back before you can realize we left.”

“SHOTGUN!” Harry took the crossbow he had left on the floor to fix the car and jumped into the front seat, too excited for the new adventure they were about to embark on.

Uma squeezed and looked at Celia one last time and headed for the pilot's door. And because her luck was endless, Mal did exactly the same, making their hands touch for a painful second time, the sparks between them ridiculously intensified.

"Oh right, you go, I'll go to the back"

"No, no. It's your car, you should drive”

“Please, I insist. Besides, I don't know if I could understand Harry's directions as a co-pilot.” Mal opened the back door and got into the car.

As screaming in frustration at such a show of kindness was not an option, Uma simply opened the door and got into the car, turning it on.

She saw in the rearview mirror how Gil pressed the button to open the garage door, while Celia settled on his side and looked at them. She smiled at them and Harry started clapping. "It's time!" Uma started to drove away from the house, with the echo of the garage door closing in the background.


	7. The rendezvous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to update, my life has been spinning during these last months and I haven’t found moments to write, but now everything has normalized. My idea wasn’t to make this fic much longer, so I don't think there are many chapters left, but I have other things that I’m working on that I’m really exited about and I can’t wait to share them with you guys. And I'm sorry if this chapter is short or bad, I haven't written for a long time and I'm rusty but I tried my best. I appreciate every single comment and kudo, thank you guys so much for your support <3 Expect more updates in a few days!

“If we ignore the rotten people walking down the streets, we could say that it is a date with friends!"

Uma was trying to ignore Harry with all her might but the boy made it difficult.

"Yes, with weapons in hand and an impossible mission, just like in the old days"

"That's the spirit Mal" Harry contorted in his seat to punch Mal on the shoulder, not noticing the sarcasm in her comment.

With a disgusted face, Mal shook his hand. "I don't know what makes you so excited"

"You can't tell me this isn't what you've been waiting for” Excitement was the only thing emanating from Harry and it was frankly disturbing.

"Uh, I don't know what you mean" Both Mal and Uma were confused, but only Mal let him know.

"We've seen enough zombie movies together to know you'd love to kill them like a Michonne”

"Are you fucking serious right now?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Harry," Mal settled into her place to look him dead in the eye. “This is real life, not a fucking movie. Sorry to burst your bubble but you're not Daryl Dixon”

A few minutes passed before Harry mumbled seriously under his breath, "...Who says I am not?"

"Oh my fucking god" Mal threw herself back in her seat and closed her eyes in frustration. Uma looked at her in the rearview mirror and smiled. Maybe Mal wasn't so wrong, this did feel like the old days.

With one hand on her temple, Uma was trying to calculate everything. She didn't want anything to go wrong. While what they had to do wasn’t difficult, there were many factors that could complicate it. At least she knew she didn’t have to worry about Celia, at least not for now.

"Uma, there" Mal got up and indicated with her finger. “Turn left here”

With a slight maneuver Uma took the car to the desolate parking lot of the supermarket. Embarrassingly, she had to admit that she was expecting something theatrical, like abandoned and broken cars and the sign of the place hanging, but everything was clean and tidy. As if nothing had happened.

As soon as she turned off the engine, Harry took his crossbow, but made no move to get out of the car, implying that he was waiting for Uma's orders, even though she wasn’t cery talkative during the trip. Uma took out the keys and flipped the door open.

She heard a couple of steps behind her so she knew Mal and Harry had got out of the car too, and were following her to the entrance. 

Knowing that she was with them gave her a rare sense of comfort, and if she tried hard enough, she could take Harry's words and break the truth, imagining that they were on their way to making life impossible for anyone who crossed them. Only they three against the whole world. In a way that was true.

"I’m bothered by the fact that this place gives me the heebie jeebies," Mal said, while holding the handle of her knife near her. Harry held his crossbow high, not aiming but not letting himself get too relaxed too. He was the only one with a grin on his face but everyone was alert and that was a good thing.

Even so, Uma said “There is no sign of fighting. Either people don’t know that this place exists or there is a specific reason why they are avoiding it.” Mal tensed even more. "Anyway, here we go"

Uma took the door handle and opened it.

The lights of an immaculate white twinkled on the ceiling and walls of the place, and incredibly a typical background supermarket music was still heard, although it was distorted in some parts of the song.

"I don't think even my father after his sixth beer would like this place" The chains hanging on Harry's pants made noise with every step he took.

Mal began to lift the sleeves of her jacket for more movement and chuckled. “Yeah, I don't think even Carlos's mother would like it. This is creepy creepy”

"No way" Harry started running and entered a shop that sold sports stuff. "Mal, think fast!" Harry kicked a ball on the floor towards Mal and her reflections made her run just in time before the ball hit her in the face. Apparently, for Harry that was the funniest thing in the world because he couldn't stop laughing.

“What’s your damage Harry?” Maybe Uma should ask Harry to take Mal off guard more often, so she didn’t have time to think about her answers, since that was the most Mal answer she heard in days. 

"Okay," began Uma. “This place is bigger than what I remembered. We’ll split, you know the plan. Only the indispensable and necessary, don’t get distracted with anything” Mal and Harry stood straight, listening to her. “We won’t be very afar from each other, so only if something happens, just shout, and we'll handle whatever is happening together”

They nodded and began to leave to their respective paths when Uma took their hands. “Be careful" They both looked at her with different emotions in their eyes. "See you guys in a minute”

Harry let go of her hand, squeezed her on her waist and left, but Mal held her a little longer, and waited til Harry left to kiss her on the cheek.

“I know you're not going to admit it, but it's okay to be afraid, and it's okay to show it once in a while. You don't always have to be a rock without feelings. Everything will be fine” Something in the way she said it, something in the way her grip anchored her to the floor and made her feel good, made any falsehood she felt in her attitude before disappearing from that selfless attitude, which calmed her unexpectedly.

Uma stared at her as she left until she realized that she’d also have to be doing something.

She took a cart that was next to her and began to tour the place. While not many people had found it, there weren’t many options to choose from, since it was small in comparison with other places. 

Her mission was to take things that could serve as food. Looking for the expiration date was a waste of time, nobody was going to be exquisite. She would’ve loved to take only candy like when she and the boys (and occasionally, Celia) had a movie night, but she knew that those kinds of nights only existed in the past now.

With a cardboard milk in her hand, she allowed herself to think about Mal’s words. Since all this had begun, Uma did nothing but plan, plan and plan. She never thought about what she felt with this, how it affected her emotionally. She was always interrupted by something (mostly Mal). And to be honest, it fucking sucked. 

She missed taking walks with Celia, missed going out with her friends. Hell, she even missed working. Day-to-day actions that she took for granted and even complained they became distant, dreams of pink to which he would never return. And it hurt. Because she had fought for that freedom and that happiness, she deserved it. And they had snatched it under her nose.

She didn't realize how strong her hold was until she felt milk run down her arm. She threw the cardboard aside. It wasn't that she tried to show herself as a rock without feelings, it was that if someone didn't let themselves be carried away by their emotions, they would all end up very badly. Someone had to calm their thoughts to make decisions that others wouldn’t make. And that person was Uma, whether she liked it or not.

"Uma, you have to see what I found" Harry's voice echoed the place in a chilling way.

"Aren't you supposed to be looking for flashlights?" Uma took a box of peas from one of the shelves and began to examine it. That was an old trick she had learned over the years, if you didn't give him the attention he wanted, Harry would get tired and leave you alone.

“Before you scold me like a bloody child, I already found everything. Hey, can you look at me for a moment?”

Turning her head, Uma felt a flash blur her eyes. “Harry, what the fuck? What is going on with you today?”

“I got it!” A machine-like noise was heard and once Uma could focus her sight, she realized that what Harry had shot her with was a flash from a polaroid camera, and a photo was coming out of its upper part. "Honestly, no insult you can call me is not going to make this be worth it” Harry showed her the picture and Uma rolled her eyes. It was just her covering her face, nothing special.

"Hey, what’s going on between you and Mal?" She didn’t lose the thread of what she was doing, even if she was surprised by the question, and that was something that she felt quite proud of. 

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean"

She knew what he meant and there was no way she would admit it. "No, not really"

"Come on" Harry smirked with complicity. “The glances, the sexual tension and friction when the salt is passed at dinner. Something between you guys definitely happened”

"Something between us definitely happened and you know it"

“Don't change the subject, you know I’m talking about something recently”

Uma sighed. "Nothing happened, we just talked." Harry raised his eyebrows prompting her to continue the story he knew wasn’t over. "And.. she apologized"

"So that’s what rocked your world" Harry took her braids and began to move them from one side to the other until she hit him in the hand to stop, although she couldn't help but smile with him.

"I just thought it was good that she apologized, that's all”

"Yeah right” Harry turned his attention to his camera. "Nothing is so simple with you when it comes to Mal"

She stopped walking. "What are you talking about?"

"Look, I think this is the perfect time to tell you that it’s disgustingly obvious that you never stopped loving her"

That wasn’t news for her, she realized with panic, but hearing someone else say it out loud was shocking.

"That's not true” She tried to defend herself, but it was useless.

“You can fool yourself but not me, darling. I think you are strong enough now to be able to tell you the raw truth. You never stopped loving her”

"How do you know?" Uma wanted to curl up on her sofa and disappear.

“I've told you already, you can't lie to me. Even if you do it unconsciously”

Having nothing to tell him since she wasn’t going to deny it, Uma started walking again pushing the cart, and Harry followed her.

“It’s not something bad, don't get me wrong. I’m not a fan of it, but all I'm just saying is: be careful this time, or you could drown in her quicksand again”

“I already told you that nothing happened”

"No, but it can happen, and you are my best friend, so if it happens again, I will have no choice but to vandalize her expensive home" Both laughed at the empty threat.

"It wouldn't work anyway, she lives with us now"

"True"

They laughed once more until Uma asked. "Wait, if you're done, do you know where Mal is?"

"Nope” Harry replied, not giving it much importance since he was now analyzing the photo he had taken again.

But like a clock that always sounds at twelve, Mal made herself present. She appeared agitated and with drops of sweat falling down her forehead.

"We need to pack everything fast, we have to go!"

"Wait, we’ve just arrived"

"Guys you don't understand, we have to go, now!" She quickly began to put things from the cart in her backpack regardless of if she did it carefully, and when she had no more space, she tried to take Uma's backpack.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Uma held her backpack tightly while Harry took Mal's wrists to stop her. “Mal, let's talk, okay? What happened?"

Pure terror fluttered through Mal's eyes. "The zombies are coming"

With an inhuman reassurance in him, Harry said, "But there are no zombies here”

"Yes, there are" Snapped Mal, freeing herself from his grip, who didn’t waste time to cast Harry a lethal look. “I dumbly opened a door that I thought was the pharmacy’s store but it wasn't, inside there were thousands of zombies and I couldn't stop them, they are chasing me and we have to go, like seriously now” Mal didn’t finish telling the story that some grunts were heard not far from where they were. Adrenaline was what drove the three of them to take everything that was left in the cart and start running towards an exit.

It wasn’t long until they realized that the only way out they knew was behind them, in the direction of the zombies.

"Fuck" They stood there staring at each other, as if it were the end. Was it? They didn’t know, but it seemed like it. There was no escape, or so they believed.

"We have to activate plan z” gulped Mal, with her eyes open as if she just had an epiphany.

"No" The Z plan was for red-alarm-level emergencies, and Uma believed there was still something to be done.

"No? What do you mean no? It's the only thing left to do” With each word she said, Mal's tone started raising.

"I said no! There’s gotta be another way” Within her, Uma knew there was nothing else to do. From the first moment she opposed that plan and only accepted it because she never thought they were going to have to use it.

Beside them, Harry was shooting with some metal arrows zombies that were dangerously close to them. Mal also saw this and became even more irritated.

“I don't have time to make you understand that this is the right thing to do! Take it,” She handed Uma her backpack and placed it on her shoulders. "Remember, just wait five minutes, and if I’m not outside by then, leave"

"Mal" She said her name as a plea, it was even twistedly funny, because at any other time she would have let Mal die. But now that the opportunity presented itself, she didn't want it to happen.

"I love you, I’ve always loved you. Please don't forget it" Instead of kissing her, as Uma wanted to do at that moment, Mal hugged her. And there were so many things that were said in that hug, forgiveness and so many unsaid feelings. She felt like she lived a lifetime in those seconds. Uma didn't want to let her go, but she did. Mal ran away and Uma could feel the salty drops intruding her eyes. 

Because the Z plan was to use one of them as bait, distracting the zombies with some sound, so that the others could escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that you can send me whatever you want @ my https://curiouscat.me/UmalsThunder :) ily guys


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